Is Prevention Better than Cure? The Rise and Fall of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, c.1950-1980

Antimicrobial resistance: preventive approaches to the rescue? Professional expertise and business model of French “industrial” veterinarians

“…non-clinical ones), and was adapted to the specific issues and husbandry conditions of intensive livestock farming. In this regard, the type of preventive veterinary medicine which was developed at that time in France would seem to have similar characteristics to that which had flourished in the UK slightly earlier (from the 1950s to 1970s) (Woods 2013): animal health has to be conceived at the scale of the herd (and not the individual animal), be articulated to non-medical matters such as feeding, housing and genetics, and integrate the economic issues of performance and profitability within the advisory support vets provide to their clients. The most important difference during the process of institutionalizing these preventive approaches in France and UK seems to be the role played by public authorities.…”

Decentring antibiotics: UK responses to the diseases of intensive pig production (ca. 1925-65)

“…Other vets and farmers highlighted how disease susceptibility and severity was enhanced by the indoor pig's dependence on rations, which often resulted in slight anaemia and vitamin deficiencies, and by its confinement in substandard housing which resulted in a lack of exercise and exposure to chilling, draughts and sudden temperature changes (Pig Farming, 1957a;Anon, 1966). Leaders of the veterinary profession responded to this situation by attempting to position themselves as expert advisers on feeding, breeding, housing and pathogen control, rather than as a 'fire brigade' service that used drugs to treat disease (Woods, 2013). The final section of this paper will explore some of the solutions that they and UK pig farmers developed for one particularly problematic disease of production known as Virus Pneumonia of Pigs (VPP).…”

“…They valued the international recognition of the MD method, and the fact that production was veterinary-led and could potentially be controlled by licensing. Their relations with Goodwin were more fraught, and they disliked the private, farm-led nature of the Association, which ran contrary to the public, veterinary-led ethos of post-war animal health services (PIDA, 1961-3;Veterinary Consultant, 1963, Woods, 2013. In 1964, perhaps in response to the competition posed by MD herds, the Association began to incorporate other diseases in its health scheme, and changed its name to the Pig Health Control Association (PHCA).…”

“…Antibiotics are used widely, although in response to concerns surrounding AMR, consumption halved between 2015 and 2017 (Barton, 2014;Parrot, 2018). Building on previous studies of mid-20th century pig production and veterinary care in the UK (Woods, 2012(Woods, , 2013, Western Europe and North America (Jones, 2003;Finlay, 2004;Smith-Howard, 2010, 2017Saraiva, 2016), this account departs from recent analyses of agricultural antibiotics by examining them from the perspective of historically situated concerns with animal health, rather than present-day concerns with human health. It seeks to probe rather than presume the significance of antibiotics to the rise of intensive farming, and to insert farmers' voices into a historical narrative that is currently dominated by scientists and policy makers.…”

Efficiency of dairy farms participating and not participating in veterinary herd health management programs

“…However, there is no evidence to support the longstanding belief that prevention is better than cure. The willingness to take part in preventive herd health schemes changes over time: milk price, policies and general economic wellbeing influence the perception of the importance for preventive medicine prevailing over curative medicine (Woods, 2012). Also, no recent data provides empirical evidence that participation in VHHM increases farmers' income.…”